There
by dandelion-heart
Summary: The hand that reached out has found something to hold onto at last.


**There**

* * *

_"There's a garden, and a pond, and so many types of plants! Especially in the summer 'cause- wait there's that bird! I'll never know what it is 'cause Miss Ryuely always tells me to learn by myself, which doesn't ever work out- I'm not dumb though, at all! You should come with me! We can both learn and just forget 'bout work, too much stress- no, no you should, 'cause you don't need to do anything right now, come on- Yumemi please!"_

Yumemi let her head fall to one side, eyes closed and fingers uncurling underneath the warmth flowing over the garden, bathing it in golden light and shine. A bead of sweat slipped from the curve of her jaw down to the nape of her neck and the young girl bristled in annoyance, brushing the salty dew away and opening her eyes slowly to guard against the blinding glow of day.

A pair of liquid gold irises gazed coolly back into her own, filled with amusement and curiosity.

"Waiting for someone?" Munto asked, cocking his head slightly as the girl hurried to her feet and glanced down at the kneeling king.

"Ah no, well- yes," she mumbled, blushing profusely as Munto stood, swaying lazily as if tired and slightly intoxicated. Yet Yumemi knew from one glance that the tall and slender king was only bored and frustrated; his eyes darted around the garden though the only sounds were from the trilling birds and swaying trees.

"See, Toche asked me if I would come here and spend the day with him but he hasn't really shown up," Yumemi murmured, running her thumbs along the edge of hair on her neck to pull it up in a tousled bun.

Munto smirked, his wandering eyes now never leaving the young girl's face. "Ryuely caught him trying to come here and naturally thought he was shirking his studies. But why the hell are you in this heat?"

"It feels nice."

Munto lifted one crimson stroke of a brow. "After all the time under your umbrella, you like the heat?"

"Wouldn't you welcome the change?"

"Not particularly," came the reply with a snort and a strange smile.

Yumemi smiled and gazed at the king from the corner of her round eyes; her mother always had a saying whenever her father or brother became irrational or Yumemi complained about a boy at school-

_"You have to remember dear, men will always be boys."_

If they were the same, why was it easier to understand the youth that smiled without subtlety and not the man who smiled on levels known and unknown? Yumemi's knees sank into the soft moss below, hands scattering the tops of blue and green dandelion fluff.

Munto was too reckless and brave; at the same time, he was intelligent and keen and despite the frequent lack of good judgment during battle, he was always in control of himself and the pressure tightening the field around him. He was a young soldier in an experienced throne trying to find a childhood of permanence…

It was odd, but did she have to justify the way that he smiled and the corners of his eyes when he frowned to make sure she understood him?

Did she have to remember who he was, so in the second that she was suspended in space amid chaos and battle she would hold on a reason for existence? Or would she forget if not for the constant reminder, the constant review of who he was and what he did?

Or who he was to her?

She could feels fingertips pressing against the locks of her hair and the smell of wind on him and the pangs of her heart whenever she was near him. For the first time since she had alighted on this land above and let the questions fade to accept the answers, she didn't know what he was. She knew who she was, and who they were and what they did, so why didn't she understand him? She still could perceive him from the edges of her memory, a bent supple man lustrous in moonlight and lighting her way…but was that really him?

Yumemi didn't understand it, why had he embraced her…she was too tired to try thinking and simply asked him for a favor…when she had asked him, was she thinking?…did she think?...did she…

Munto let out an irritated sigh and placed a slender hand on his hip.

…she didn't…

"Yumemi."

…did he mean…

"Yumemi-"

…anything to her?

Yumemi's head jerked forward, fully aware in an instant that Munto's hand had slipped around her waist and pulled her without warning. The youth grinned again, saying something that she couldn't hear, that she didn't want to hear…

"Do I mean anything to you?"

Munto blinked and ceased his mild laughs; he could feel Yumemi rocking faintly against his loose hold, and could see what peach-blossom skin he could through her hair burning deep pink.

"What-"

If she meant anything to him, then he was also something to her, right? She needed to ascertain that as well? Why couldn't she simply see or feel or hear-

"Why am I here? With you?"

Silence pounded in her ears and Yumemi felt her throat dry, tongue swell, hands tremble. Because she didn't know the answer.

Why was that?

"You're here because you came." His voice was slow and drawn, as if smoothing creases of emotion from the blank page of sound.

"Or did you mean, why was I here with you? Then, I don't know."

Pause.

" I don't care to know either- am I not supposed to be here? Or are you not supposed to be here or hell Yumemi why are you asking?!"

Pauses.

" Why are you asking me this?! Yumemi talk! I don't know anything, you were the one-!"

* * *

_"You have to remember dear, men will always be boys."_

If they were the same, why was it easier to understand the youth that smiled without subtlety and not the man who smiled on levels known and unknown?

* * *

What if he smiled without subtlety?

Was he- who she was?

Yumemi's eyes widened and noticed that Munto had left her side and stood a distance away, clenching his fists, grimacing, pressing his lips together in a straight, strained line…

He was a boy. And she knew the answer. That they traded, and she would have to lead-

"I'm sorry." Yumemi hardly felt or heard anything and saw nothing but his hurting face. She walked forward, hardly feeling the ground pass underneath her as she advanced towards him.

Smiling, she slipped her hand into his, letting all thoughts fly and concentrating on the now, that her hand was in his and she didn't want to let go…she didn't. She wanted to draw closer and ask that he stop frowning and shrug it off as he always did, or have a bemused expression at her naivety, or laugh freely without care, or be himself and pull her closer to fall into him again...

That was why she felt pain- she was afraid to see that beyond the clouds and the palaces there was a boy whom she needed- whom she desperately needed…and though there he was, innocent questions and unneeded attention had clouded it…she had only made him wait.

"I'm sorry, I didn't understand it before but- you saw me before I saw you didn't you? And you understood it before as well, that's why I never really left…"

"Yumemi."

The girl looked up. He looked down.

"Explain clearly."

Yumemi needed to laugh; he was so beautiful in the approaching dusk though his brow was furrowed in confusion and annoyance and another emotion she couldn't read.

"The question was for me- I'm here because you're here. I made the promise remember? I won't leave you now, and I can't either-"

"Why?"

"Because I need you-"

"For?"

"Knowing myself-"

"And?"

"Why are you asking?" Yumemi laughed lightly. "Don't you need someone more than anything else?"

Yumemi's eyes widened as Munto leaned forward, the tip of his nose brushing the bridge of her own.

"You don't need to need me…I promised I'd be here by your side forever remember? You only need things that can possibly go away, at any time."

The coming twilight cloaked him in shades of pink and red, the last of blue withering under the streaks of flame in the sky; his eyes never seemed to change their gold though, gold like the sun nearly meeting the ridges in the distance.

Was it possible to fall into someone who hovered above you? Or did you need to reach out and meet them?

"You don't mind me staying of course do you?" His breath was warm and silky and she could feel his smile hovering over it, despite the irregular beating of her heart and the fire that inflamed her skin and twitching that moved her fingers.

"No," she squeaked, blushing deeply from the choked sound and from the dancing laugh he issued as he leaned forward, eyes closing, nose trailing down the side of her cheek, lips parted, letting the taste of stars and air fill her mouth-

* * *

The green and blue and white and black earth met the golden sun.

Twilight enveloped both in a slow hold, savoring the instant before it passed.

Twilight came every day, so why did it seem that the world had fallen on that twilight?, fallen into not the sky- but into the sun?


End file.
